How About That Patrick O’Bryant?

Let me start by saying that I’m not launching into an over-analysis of this team after only one game. As Chuck said in last night’s recap, these guys were understandably emotional last night. There’s no way we can judge performances based solely on last night.

BUT…

We can look at the lack of Patrick O’Bryant as a sign of how far he still has to go. When you leave your newly signed 7 footer on the bench to play an undersized forward against a guy pushing 8 feet tall… that says something. We saw a sign of that the other day when Doc said there’s “Celtics speed” and then there’s “Patrick speed.”

A lot of us liked what we saw in the preseason, and there’s no doubt he’s got the potential. And again, let me stress that this isn’t a criticism of him or a criticism of Danny for signing him. It’s just me calling attention to the fact that, after some positives in the preseason, O’Bryant clearly hasn’t done enough to earn any playing time yet.

One thing we need to watch for is how he responds to a DNP in a game where he had a chance to play. I’m sure he thought that a chance to work against a big, slow Zydrunas Ilgauskas would be perfect for him. Now, what does he do in practice to make sure the next time Perk gets into foul trouble, he gets a chance to play?

Quick question on Perk, again playing off what Chuck said last night: Should we just accept that this is going to be what Perk is… a foul-prone bruiser that will occasionally bust out for a big night? I love Perk, but at what point does he stop committing some of those unnecessary fouls?

And when Paul Pierce cried those tears of joy (and maybe a little relief), he also showed his younger teammates a little something about being a Celtic.

Being a Celtic is different. It IS about trying to be a member of “the club.” It IS about pouring your heart and soul into a kids game, whether you make the league minimum, or $17 million a year. It IS about showing the fans you care about what you’re doing as much as we care about what you’re doing

After the jump, today’s links, and the YouTube video of Leon Powe posterizing Delonte West

6 Responses

There’s no denying Doc has really high expectations. You could see it all last season when he was constantly chewing out Rondo and criticizing Baby. POB is going to have to do a lot to earn PT with Doc. Maybe he’s a trade chip, who knows. But Doc clearly wanted to win tonight’s game to make the statement that last year is in the past, but also not to allow the Cavs to get revenge on such a big night. That has to play into POB’s DNP.

Anybody know why neither the rookies nor Cassell dressed last night? Cassell was seated next to Kevin Eastman on the bench.

Bill - October 29, 2008 at 12:30 pm

You need 3 inactives. With 15 players on the roster, those 3 didn’t dress.

Well, let’s not exaggerate what POB did in the preseason either. He played well enough with the starters, but after that his performance was increasinly under par. I was pretty discouraged by the end of preseason with his lack of intensity and, sometimes as it appeared, concentration. I’m not expecting much out of him.

As for Perk, I don’t know. I don’t want to be too much of an apologist but (I guess will be because) the refs do have a tag on him. I mean do you think there is any chance in hell that if Perk reached over Big Baby like that Ogre, Z did, he would not have been whistled immediately? I think that all goes back to that scuffle he had with Desmond Mason in Milwaukee his second year or so. The refs are looking for it and sometimes they see it when it’s not there. I could go on forever on this, but I guess my point of view is Perk can play smarter, but he could still get screwed regardless of what he does. If it’s a choice of being less physical and playing smarter versus the opposite, I’ll live with the boneheadedness.

Mike - October 29, 2008 at 2:41 pm

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